


1. Shaky Hands

by titC



Series: Whumptober 2019 [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Gen, whumptober2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-10-11 03:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20539625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titC/pseuds/titC
Summary: Jack has to make a choice.





	1. Shaky Hands

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Whumptober](https://whumptober2019.tumblr.com/) for organizing it and [PixelByPixel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixelByPixel) for the beta!

Jack looks at his hands. They’re shaking slightly. It’s not the first time, but he knows it won’t be the last. He’s young, he’s too young for this. He needs to be able to fight, to box; it’s the only thing he can do. Matty relies on him.

Jack ignores his shaky hands, and he goes to the hospital again. Matty needs him.

The shaking, of course, doesn’t get any better. It’s not constant and not that noticeable, so he has been able to hide it so far. His boy’s back home now, and he has to be strong for him. Make money for the rent, for his school supplies, for Matt’s follow-up visits to the doc. They saved his eyes, he won’t have glass eyes or sewn eyelids or whatever it is they had planned, but he won’t see ever again. His baby boy, blind… Matty, who loves reading, and who’s such a hard-working kid, and – Jack can’t think about that.

He goes to Fogwell’s, wraps his hands, trains; he goes to Fogwell’s, teaches the kids, makes some more money. Not a lot, no, but enough to put some food on the table. He needs more, though, so he works more. He does odd jobs around the gym, he works extra hours, fills in when Bob takes time off to go visit his Ma. Jack is a good trainer, and he makes enough to buy new clothes and shoes for Matt. They’re second-hand, that’s all he can afford, but he’s still careful to only get some that don’t look too worn. He doesn't want other kids to make fun of Matt.

He grows up so fast, Jack can’t believe it. He’s so smart. Nothing can stop him, not even blindness. He’ll be a doctor one day, or a lawyer. He’ll have a swanky office and a secretary; he’ll make good money. He’ll help people, yeah, Jack knows his boy’s got a good heart. But he’s so much smarter than his old man, too. Jack, he’s never been too bright; he quit school to go punch a bag when he was 16. And before that, he wasn’t doing so well. He skipped classes more than he attended them, to be honest. Matty won’t do the same.

Still, it’s not enough; Jack needs money for the rent, and when they ask him to lose – he loses. He knows how to make it look good; he fights back, and staggers into the ropes, and he has a second wind before finally losing. He doesn’t let his opponent knock him down, he’s got his pride; but he lets him win on points.

And he can pay the rent for a while. 

But Jack’s hands are shaking, and it’s getting worse. They say Ali, the Greatest, Jack’s childhood hero, was hit in the head too many times, that he took too many hits, that it’s why he’s sick now. And Jack – he’s no Muhammad Ali, no. But he’s had his fair share of hits, and his hands are shaking, and he won’t be able to hide it for much longer. As soon as they see it at the gym, it will be over. No more fights, no more training. Maybe they’ll let him teach for a while, but he won’t be able to go for sparring bouts with the up-and-coming boxers. Jack’s almost a washout, now, and he’s spent all the money from his last fight.

He’d like Matty to hear folks cheering his old man, sure. But he doesn’t tell anyone that it’s also the last time he can be in the ring. He’s pretty sure Sweeney will have him killed; that bastard doesn’t have one ounce of decency in him. But that way Jack can make a tidy amount of money, and it can add up in the bank over the years; and when Matt goes to college – because he will, he’s so smart – then he’ll have a better start in life. Much better than if he had a useless father with shaky hands who can’t work, can’t make money.

Deep down, he knows Matty needs his dad, but he’s going to be a burden more than a provider soon enough. He won’t be able to make enough for the rent and the food, and he doesn't want Matty to grow up in the streets or to leave school and work and – no.

This is better.

Jack’s hands are shaking, and he’s going to win that last fight for Matty.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic of] Shaky Hands](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26808259) by [Metaderivative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metaderivative/pseuds/Metaderivative)


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